GolfLAN.com secures Pre-Series A funding from YourNest

GolfLAN Technology Solutions, the company behind GolfLAN.com – a global golf inventory aggregator, has announced raising Pre-Series A funding led by YourNest Angel Fund. The funds raised would be primarily used for building the team, product enhancement, geographical expansion, infrastructure and marketing.

GolfLAN.com, which started out with the vision to democratize access to golf, now offers a host of services for regular and aspiring Golfers. Golf has been seeing a tremendous growth in popularity across the globe and is all set to become an Olympic sport starting in 2016. There are 118 member countries in the International Golf Federation, many of which will now receive government funding to support grass roots development efforts; a golf explosion is imminent in many parts of the world.

The company which started its operations in 2012 has already generated substantial excitement amongst golfers in India and Middle East by making more than 400 Golf courses accessible at a click of a button to its members. The company is now expanding it’s footprint in SE Asia, Europe, UK & China.

GolfLAN offers every Golfer the ease of online booking of tee-time in any of its partner courses. The same is now being ported to a mobile app. Other services include membership to the Elite Golfer’s Club - A unique Global Golf Membership, and its Tee Time Management Software to digitize golf course slot inventory globally.

GolfLAN.com was started by Dhruv Verma, an XLRI alumnus with 14 plus years of experience across BFSI, BPO & Telecom spearheading Sales, Strategy, and Learning and Development. Verma is an avid golfer with keen interest in growth of golf in the Indian and global markets.

“As a sport and as a business, golf operates on a huge scale. Although there are no official figures, an estimated 90 million golfers worldwide play on close to 40,000 golf courses across the planet. There is a potential of at least doubling this figure the moment Golf is made more affordable and accessible, Golf Bookings made more convenient, and the Golfer empowered with easily available knowledge. On top of this, if the service provider can further subsidise the cost of playing golf, the sport will boom across markets,” says Dhruv Verma, CEO, GolfLAN.

“Our highly golf intelligent online portal and CRM processes golf bookings across the world. We currently have a network of over 400 golf courses across 25 countries including India, Middle East countries, SE Asian countries, UK, Europe, Australia, Africa, and USA etc. GolfLAN is opening up the world of golf to local golfers with assured tee times and assistance. The portal caters to every golfing need of a Golfer – his one stop shop for Golf,” he said further.

Girish Shivani, Executive Director and Fund Manager, YourNest, said, “Golf is a fast growing niche segment and enjoys a certain exclusivity and premium-ness. However, with the way the sport is attracting newer players and facilities, the only way the ecosystem will grow is by making the sport more accessible. GolfLAN, with its multi-tiered subscription model, an online/mobile booking platform for golfers and an integrated Tee management system for the courses, is doing exactly that.”